Marine Sanitation - Clean Water for Boating

Cleaner Waters for Boating

Salem Sound No Discharge Area

Boats with Type I and Type II Marine Sanitation Devices (MSDs) can
no longer discharge treated effluent anywhere within Salem Sound.

What to Do When Boating in NDA Waters:
Boaters with Type I or Type II MSDs must do one of the following:

1) close the seacock and remove the handle
2) fix the seacock in the closed position with a padlock or non-releasable wire-tie
3) lock the door to the space enclosing the toilet with a padlock or door handle key lock.

Type III MSD (holding tank) must be secured by either:

1) closing each valve leading to an overboard discharge
2) padlocking each valve in the closed position
3) using a non-releasable wire-tie to hold each valve leading to an overboard discharge in the closed position.

The NDA requires you to PUMP It, not Dump It!

Pumpout Services (36KB PDF)

Salem Sound NDA Poster: what boaters need to know
and chart of NDA boundaries
(96 kB PDF)

Salem Sound Pump-out Chart (7.5 MB PDF)

Do you need to know where and how to get a pump-out for your MSD in Salem Sound? SSCW through funding from MA CZM Coastal NPS grant has been able to bring this chart and all the information you will need to know to get your boat pumped.

Based on the results of the Salem Sound Marine Sanitation Needs Assessment conducted in 2005, Salem Sound Coastwatch brought together representatives from the boating community to seek Federal and State No Discharge designation.

The Salem Sound Working Group consists of harbormasters, health department staff, and representatives from marinas, yacht clubs, Salem Sound Coastwatch, Coast Guard Auxilliary, the Beverly Power Squadron, and Marblehead Sail and Power Squadron. The meetings are open to the public and if you would like to volunteer as a member, please contact Barbara Warren.

The goals of this project are the following:

1. Increase Salem Sound boaters awareness of the existing pump-out services and accessibility of the facilities through targeted educational outreach,

2. Increase visibility and usage of Salem Sound pump-out services and improve or add facilities, as need exists,

3. Build awareness of Salem Sound's designation as a No Discharge Area (NDA).

Salem Sound Marine Sanitation
Needs Assessment - Summer 2005

During the course of this study, 871 boaters responded to the anonymous boaters' survey distributed by Salem Sound Coastwatch. Surveys were mailed to 4,063 mooring permit holders in the Danvers River, Beverly Harbor and Salem Harbor (Marblehead and Salem).

With an amazing 21% return rate on the surveys, it is obvious that Salem Sound has an active boating community that wants to be involved and responsive to the issues facing it.

Result Highlights:
96% of the respondents were aware of the federal law prohibiting discharge of untreated sewage from vessels within 3 miles of the coast.

Over 80% of respondents were aware that sewage might cause problems at beaches and increase health risks.

25% of respondents did not know of any pump-out facilities in Salem Sound.

58% of respondents have never used pump-out services, which included 11% of the boat owners with holding tanks.

70% of respondents have never dumped overboard, but approximately 15% have dumped untreated sewage within 3 miles of shore or at their mooring or slip.

86% of respondents said they would support a "No Discharge Zone" for Salem Sound.

All the results, survey comments and recommendations are in the following Salem Sound Marine Sanitation Needs Assessment Report and Guidance Document is available in PDF format (2.2MB).

SSCW held a public forum, CLEAN WATERS FOR BOATING, to discuss the results on Dec. 13, 2005. The presentation of results is available as a PowerPoint in PDF format (305 KB).

Salem Sound Coastwatch would like to share the results with the community and is looking for opportunities to speak about the results, recommendations and next steps.

Please call or email us to arrange a presentation.
Barbara Warren 978-741-7900

Thank you to all those who returned the survey and have volunteered to work on the Next Steps. These projects are made possible by funding from MA Coastal Zone Management through Coastal NPS grants.